A RUINED building regarded as one of the most significant of its kind in the country could be set to become a major arts and music hub.

The former St Peter’s Seminary, behind Cardross on the lower banks of the River Clyde, has been reclaimed from dereliction by Glasgow environmental art group NVA.

A massive nocturnal sound and light installation dubbed Hinterland will open to the public tonight and is expected to attract thousands of visitors over a ten day period.

Now the leading arts group are aiming to develop the 1960s ruin into a permanent culture centre featuring gallery space and a 600 capacity performance venue.

St Peter's Seminary, near Helensburgh in Argyll

Angus Farquhar, Creative Director of NVA, hopes Hinterland is the first of many significant cultural events to be housed in the ancient woodland near Helensburgh, breathing new life into the architecturally lauded modernist structure in Argyll.

He said: “Over the last 25 years many plans have come and gone to try to save this building - luxury hotel, swimming pool and spa, luxury flats - and all the ideas bit the dust.

“It’s built on a plinth of rock in a gorge created by two rivers running through an ancient woodland so it has been difficult to provide a solution that worked and all those ideas ultimately failed.

“When I first saw this building it was an instant reaction. I knew because of the type of work that we make that we would be the people to save it.” NVA will discover whether funding bids totalling £4million have been successful in their attempt to transform the abandoned relic into a multi-purpose venue.

If the cash is granted it could see the building, which was designed by Izi Metzstein and Andrew McMillan for architects Gillespie, Kidd & Coia, play host to a specially-curated programme of festivals incorporating music, theatre and visual art within a couple of years.

Angus said: “This is a midway point. We’ve spent a year working to take out asbestos and hazardous materials and if that hadn’t happened half the building would have fallen down this winter because it has been so wet.

“The long-term idea is that people would come and see work there that they can’t see anywhere else. We’ll aim to use the incredible shape and history of the building to make all forms of concerts, theatre shows and exhibitions, building a programme around five or six events or small festivals a year within half an hour from Glasgow.

“Education is at the heart of it as well. We want to run it like a free university, bringing academics and teachers out of their ivory towers, and giving people a chance to be involved in the discussion of really interesting ideas and to not have to pay for the privilege.

“What we’re doing is complex and ambitious, but what’s exciting is we’re not some big institution, we’re a small, feisty arts organisation with big ideas. It’s incredibly rare for people like us to get our hands on buildings like this, and hopefully as a result we’ll do something that is really authentic, that people connect with and bring a lot of life to the area.

The Category A listed building has been transformed into a "living sculpture".

“NVA have spent 25 years making events in unusual places. The work we do takes people into places we wouldn’t normally go.”

The purpose built seminary was opened in 1966 but functioned for only 14 years as a training ground for priests before becoming a drug rehab facility and eventually closing altogether after little more than 20 years in use.

Since falling into disrepair it has become a visual playground for graffiti artists and a source of fascination to architects around the world as a modern ruin.

Its use as an interactive display is the headline event at this year’s Festival of Architecture . Viewers are transported to the site by minibus from Helensburgh, given LED lights and beckoned towards the monolithic structure through a tree-lined trail.

Angus said: “We could have sold this out twice over. The level of public interest shows people what can be done with the building. Instead of seeing it just a battered old ruin, its about seeing it as a place of potential, a place which can tell a new story and reach new people.”